Improvement in separating vegetable matter from wool



Gr. SIRTAINE. Separating Vegtable Matter from Wool.

No. 196,257. Patented 0121.16, 1877.

/ f y zaga PATENT eonnrnov srn'rnrnn, or vnnvrnns, BELGIUM.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEPARATING VEGETABLE MATTER `FROJVYI WOOL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,25f7 dated October 16, 18,77; Vapplication. Viiled March 6, 1875 patented in England, J nly 19, 1873, for fourteen years.

MTo :all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gonnnnov SIRTAINE,

.of Verviers, inthe Kingdom of Belgium, have invented an improvement in the application of gases produced in the manufacture of chemical products, manures, or otherwise, to the .cleansing of wool from burr and seeds, and to any operation having for its obj ect the disintegration Yof vegetable matter, of which the following is a specification:

h To disintegrate vegetable matter, and especially for the cleansing of wool from burr and seeds, I use the acid and alkaline gases `produced. in any industrial process, more acid remaining in the mass under treatment, y

I reduce the duration ofthe action of such remaining acid to a minimmn. By the absorption of the acid andalkaline gases in Water I .collect any excess thereof, and prevent the annoyance to the workmen arising from their escape.

This invention, therefore, effects, iirst, si?

multaneously, the rapid contact of acid gas andhot au'1 with every part of the mass submitted to their action; secondly, the instantaneous discharge of the acid gas; thirdly, the immediate substitution of alkaline gas inporder toneutralize the last portion of acid that may remain in the mass under treatment; and, fourthly, the absorption of the gases in the interior of the apparatus hereinafter described, lmechanical means, such as a ventilating-fan, being added to the attractive force the substances employed may have for each other, and combined with the use of cold water, by a Wolf apparatus, by water used in the form of spray, which the gases are compelled to traverse, or in any other manner.

The nature of my process will be readily understood by taking as an example a work .erected for carryingl on certain industrial operations-say, for instance, in one part, the manufacture of sulphate o f soda, producing hydrochloric gas to be transformed ,BO the liquid hydrochloric acid of commerce; yin another part, the manufacture, by the treatment of manures, of ammoniacalgas to be made into liquid ammonia. In `such an establishment I should, for the purpose vof cleansing wool-from burr and seeds, use the hydrochloric and -moniacal gases, by forcing them to pass through the wool placed in a chamber hermetically closed, by means Aof mechanical ventilation adding its effect to the attractive force .of water for the gases.

This chamber is closed by a cover orarch placed on the top. -The interior is ,divided horizontally into two equal parts by a screen formed of wire, which has .received'acovering of lead, or of other suitable material. The up'- per part of this chamber isprovided with two oriiices, which can be opened or closed from the outside when required. One is used for the withdrawal of the acid gas, the nother for the alkaline gas, .each being in vcommunication with a water-tank, in which the vsaid gases are absorbed and hydrochloric `or ammoniacal liquor formed.

The lowest part of the chamber has three v the ammoniacal gas, the third to admit the l air driven into thechamber by a ventilator or fan, through the tubes of a boiler chargedrvith live-steam. I

With this apparatus I operate in the following manner: The hydrochloric gas is firstyadmitted singly. As soon as the chamber is filled with this gas the inlet is closed, that of the warm air is opened, and the ventilator is set in motion.

After the very short time required by the hydrochloric gas and the Warm air to disintegrate the wool in passing through it, the outlet for the escape of the gas is opened. The gas having been expelled, the outlet is closed, and the ventilator is stopped, the inlet of warm air is closed, and that for the introduction of ammoniacal gas opened. This vgas is blown into the chamber as it is generated by' the action of a fan or ventilator, the blast of -nature of the substances.

which is forced through the solid or liquid excrement, or other substances, treated by milk of lime, and kept at a temperature of .350 Reaumur, (1100 Fahrenheit.)

A suflicient quantity of this gas having been forced through the wool to neutralize the acid which may have remained in it, the outlet for its escape is opened.

In wool thus treated, the vegetable matters will be found disintegrated and easily got rid of by the simple process of beating, or even in those of the spinning only. In certain cases, however, it has been found that it is desirable that the acid gas, and also the hot air and the alkaline gas, should circulate during a certain time through the substances submitted to their action-on the one hand the acid gas and warm air, and on the other the alkaline gas-the circulation of each of the gases successivelyrvarying according to the To effect this, it suffices to open a channel through which the blast from the ventilator can reach that part of the chamber into which the gases and the hot air are driven after having passed through the wool, so that by the blast of the ventila tor these gases are forced back under the metallic screen, and forced to pass through the wool again, and that as often as may be found necessary to complete the operation.

It is, however, necessary, if this system be adopted, to substitute for the tubular steamboiler another form of heatinga stove, for instance, but not made of iron, which does not resist the action of acid gas; and, for the same reason, the ventilator should have'a coating of tar or varnish, or be coated with sheet-lead. Moreover, when. I desire to increase the etlicacy of the action of an alkaline gasthe use of which, for the purpose of neutralizing acid introduced into a substance undergoing the process of disintegration, by any method whatever, is one of the cardinal points of my invention, I pass through the wool, before admitting the gas, a jet of steam, which wets it in condensing.

The above-described series of voperations can be carried on without interrupting the production of the hydrochloric acid or the liquid ammonia. The gases need only to be placed, when required, in direct communication with the water, as well as with the chamber above described, so that, when their admission to this last is cut off, they will iiow through the direct channel to the water, and vice versa.

In the drawing, A is a chamber, six feet in height, with an air-tight cover of glass, and divided horizontally, at four and one-half feet from the ground, by a screen of lead-covered wire-cloth, or of india-rubber, or of horse-hair, or of glass rods, on which the wool to be treated is spread. The other dimensions of this chamber may vary according to the space at disposal, a convenient size being about twenty feet in length and iifteen in width. A1 A1 are entrances for workmen to spread the wool. A2 is an inlet for hot air under the wire-cloth. A3 is an inlet for acid gas under the wire-cloth. A4 is an inlet for ammoniacal gas under wire-cloth; A5, an outlet for the gases and air placed above the wire-cloth, and communicating with the ventilator or fan U by the pipe B1; A6, an outlet for the gases and the air placed above the wire-cloth, and communicating with the fan C by the channel B2 and VVolfs apparatus B. All these inlets and outletsk must be made steam, air, and water tight, by leaden slides, or by any of the suitable and well-known methods. B, a Wolf s apparatus for collecting gases in water; B2, a channel for conducting gases and air into the apparatus B, by the opening A6 5 C, fan drawing in air above the wirescreen, by either ofthe openings A5 or A, and forcing it underneath the screen through the stove D, and the opening A2, or through the channel E', or

the opening A, D, the stove; D', thechannel v which receives the blast of the fan from the pipes of the stove D, and communicates it, as required, first, to the chamber A, through the opening A2; second, to the cess-pool or re cipient for fecal matter, E, by the channel E. E, a receptacle in. which is generated the ammoniacal gas, which penetrates into the chamber A through the opening A4,' E', channel conveying blast of the fan into the contents of cess-pool E, treated with lime; F, retort for the production of chlorhydric acid in the manufacture of sulphate of soda; F1, discharge-pipe for the gas from the retort F, passing under the pipe E to convey the acid gas into the chamber A, through the opening A3. These channels are of masonry, or may be iron pipes lined with lead, or coated with a resinous substance to resist the action of acids.

The mode of working the apparatus is as follows:

First, warm the air in the chamber A, which contains the wool, through the openings A2 and A5, all the others being closed, and set the fan to work. The air passes from the chamber A, through the channel B1, into the fan C, which blows it through the tubes of the stove D, and forces it to enter the chamber A in a warm state, through the channel D and the oriiice A2.

Secondly, let in to the wool the acid gas produced in the retort F. To effect this, open A3. The gas conveyed through F enters the chamber A, mixes with the warm air, which the fan keeps 'in circulation, and goes with it through the wool.

Thirdly, collect the acid gas in the Wolf apparatus. To do this, open A6, and close A5 and A3. rlhe air, charged with acid gas, and sucked in by the fan, is forced to pass through the channel B2 and the apparatus B, where it is purified from the acid it contained.

Fourthly, let in to the wool the ammoniacal gas generated in the cess-pool or recipient of fecal matter E, by opening A4, A5, and E', and closing A6 and A2. The air drawn from the chamberAthrough A5 and B1 is blown through D, D', and E into the contents of the cesspool E, where it is charged with aminoniacal gas, and re-enters the chamber A through the opening A4.

Fifthly, collect the aminoniacal gas in the Wolf apparatus, by opening A2 and A6, and closing the openings A4, A5, and E. The air, charged with ammoniacal gas and sucked in by the fan, is forced to pass through the pipe B2 and the apparatus B, where it is purified from the ammonia it contained.

I ain aware that it is not new, in removing burrs and Vegetable matter from wool, to subject the saine in close vessels to the action of acid gas, and to afterward neutralize the saine by means of annnonia.

I claiin as my inventioni 1. The described method of cleaning wool, consisting, essentially, in the following .series of steps: iirst, subjecting the mass t0 the joint 2. The method described, consisting, essentially, in subjecting the wool to the actionof acid and alkc line gases, and then recovering the acid and alkaline in solution, as set forth.

GODEFROY SlRTAINE.

Witnesses:

Jol-1N WiLsoN, JN0. PnJDiNG'roN. 

